This is a terribly underrated western and I wonder why it has been neglected for so long. George C Scott, Faye Dunaway and Jack Palance... there was some wonderfully "crude" dialogue and situations (especially a discussion of male vs female anatomy with Scott and Dunaway). Anyone else have fond memories of this one? Or know of an impending DVD release?

Directed by Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones), Oklahoma Crude boasts of a great cast featuring Faye Dunaway, George.C.Scott and Jack Palance.It is about a woman, her father and a hobo who try to extract oil while fighting off evil oil companies who are trying to take over the land. The film begins with a long establishing shot of an oil derrick, with Faye Dunaway's character hard at work. The film is upto its neck with long shots of these grand vistas. The long shots are simply amazing and beautiful to look at despite the arid landscapes.

Faye Dunaway's character is a tough and driven woman who would get at the oil, whatever it takes. She looks beautiful despite the tough demeanor. Her character reminded me of Henry Stamper (played by Henry Fonda) in Sometimes a Great Notion. George.C. Scott plays second fiddle to Faye Dunaway. But he is such a terrific actor that he holds his own. He is well known for playing tough authoritarian characters like Patton, the cunning attorney in Anatomy of a Murder or the strict conservative father in Hard Core or the ruthless gambler in Hustler. The scenes where Dunaway and Scott face off are terrific. They are very well written and contain some witty and intelligent dialog.

There is a great musical score by Henry Mancini – the title score is rollicking. Send a little love my way is a wonderful melodious song and variations of it including instrumental versions are played throughout the film. The score also includes a this hazy tune used when Scott's character walks into the enemy camp and steals food and drink. The score is what attracted me to the film.

The film is mostly a light hearted comedy with a few serious elements and action scenes. The final scene is really interesting with a Butch Cassidy like freeze frame suggesting many outcomes in the relationship between Dunaway and Scott.

It is a nice comedic Western that is seriously underrated. It has a 6.3 rating on IMDb and deserves a 7 at least. It deserves to be more well known for the star cast and the score.

This is a terribly underrated western and I wonder why it has been neglected for so long. George C Scott, Faye Dunaway and Jack Palance... there was some wonderfully "crude" dialogue and situations (especially a discussion of male vs female anatomy with Scott and Dunaway). Anyone else have fond memories of this one? Or know of an impending DVD release?

It is OK. Not more than that. And I consider myself more or less a Stanley Kramer fan. Unfortunately his last 15 years as Director lessened his status a bit. THE DOMINO PRINCIPLE is (unfortunately) pretty awful, SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIO is not great either, despite a fine cast. It seems to me the death of Spencer Tracy was the end of an era.His big time was from 1958 - 1967, DEFIANT ONES, INHERIT THE WIND, JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG, MAD MAD WORLD, GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (dated now, important back then) and he was a great ambitious producer, not many of those have really something to say: CHAMPION, THE MEN, HIGH NOON, THE WILD ONE, THE CAINE MUTINY...